The Freedom Update – Episode 195

In the past three years, the Freedom Foundation has notified tens of thousands of home healthcare and childcare providers in Washington and Oregon they’re no longer required to pay dues or fees to SEIU. And it hasn’t been easy, because the union has fought us at every turn trying to keep the names of the providers out of our hands.

We’ve won nearly every battle in court against them because that information is a matter of public record. But there have been temporary setbacks, like the one we suffered in court earlier this month.

Although the law explicitly allows disclosure of public employees’ names and birthdates to anyone seeking it, a three-judge panel in Tacoma somehow concluded the law should exempt birth dates, which we need to resolve the problem of duplicate names.

It’s the job of judges to interpret the laws, not write them, and this was a clear case of legislating from the bench in order to hand the unions a victory they’re not entitled to.

We’ll go back to court and appeal the ruling, and it’ll be overturned. Eventually.

In the meantime, we’ll keep working to inform the workers we can identify of their legal rights and cheer each one who successfully cuts ties with SEIU.

And the union will keep searching for ways to obstruct and delay justice.